As COVID-19 disrupted learning globally on an unprecedented scale, what are some programmes that have achieved good results in addressing education loss? BY XIANG MIN LIM The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted learning on an unprecedented, global scale over the past two years. With widespread school closures, education loss has unevenly affected different socio-economic classes of students, with the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ bearing the biggest losses. Inspired by current projects in Thailand supported by APC Members from Firetree Philanthropy and Khon Thai Foundation, APC brought together experts to examine Thailand’s education landscape and present recommendations on education recovery. Exploring three…
Diving Deep into APC’s Philanthropy Guides
What were some of the lessons distilled from the recent APC Philanthropy Guide Workshops on Strategising, Executing, Structuring, and Family? BY BRADLEY WO When APC launched the APC Philanthropy Guides at venn2021, members were asked which of the guides they would want to revisit through a dedicated workshop series. The response blew us away— members wanted to cover nearly every guide! The result is a 4-part workshop series to “deep dive” into the guides, where members can hear and engage directly with experts and one another on the topics. So far, APC is halfway through the workshop series after hosting two workshops…
Making Sense of Tax Incentives for Philanthropic Giving
The latest report by the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (India) examines whether tax incentives induce or increase philanthropic giving in twelve economies. BY BRADLEY WO One of the challenges that APC comes across in our work is finding comprehensive research on the social sector and philanthropy. Recently, the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka University, India published a Report on Tax Incentives for Philanthropic Giving. In this report, they assess whether tax incentives induce or increase philanthropic giving in twelve economies, including Singapore, by looking at numerous previously published studies. The report finds mixed results, but most interesting was that tax incentives do not…
Enabling access to education
BY CINDY HSIAO Since the start of COVID-19, more than 800 million children across Asia have had their education disrupted due to school closures and amongst these, more than 27 million children have been waiting for more than a year to return to school. Whilst home-based learning has become the norm for some children across the region, children from vulnerable communities face inequitable challenges in accessing education and are at risk of falling further behind. With education being the top thematic area of interest and work amongst APC members, APC’s final Call for Collaboration of the year sought to provide…
Notes from the Region
BY THERESA CUA Every year, APC looks to support its members in their philanthropic initiatives across the region. However, even as COVID-19 continued to restrict travel for most of 2021, this has not prevented the APC team from convening members and guests to discuss specific issues and challenges to they face in their respective countries. Predictably, COVID-19 relief continues to be a top concern across the membership, as the Delta variant surged throughout Southeast Asia. Thus, we checked in with our members: what initiatives have they been doing for their communities during the pandemic? What lessons have they learned? Where…
Building Mental Wellness Collectively
BY MALEEKA HASSAN Youth mental health in Singapore has shown troubling statistics over the years. In 2017, mental illness was the primary cause of years lost to disease amongst the age group 10-34, with suicide rates on the rise. The COVID-19 pandemic further worsened mental health issues globally, with unprecedented records of stress, depression, and anxiety. Research into the Singapore mental health landscape found a lack of population-wide initiatives in Singapore that addressed youth mental well-being and preventative measures to reduce the risk of future mental illnesses. These findings prompted APC to organise a series of dialogues on mental health…
What’s next for climate philanthropy in Asia?
BY SARAH TAM After this year’s COP26, where does this leave philanthropists working to address climate change? Sarah Tam, APC’s new Programme Lead for its recently-launched Climate Collective, shares her thoughts. Recently, world leaders gathered in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) with one mission in mind: to keep the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5oC. Two weeks of intense negotiations delivered a new global agreement – the Glasgow Climate Pact – that aims to reduce the worst impacts of climate change. Beyond this, bold commitments were made to curb methane emissions, halt and reverse forest loss,…
Onwards to a Flourishing Future: Eight Lessons from venn2021
BY THERESA CUA At long last: after two years, APC members were finally able to meet once again at venn last November. In a first-ever hybrid meeting, venn saw its largest gathering yet—with over 60 APC members, family, and guests coming together both in-person in Sentosa, and calling in from across the world for three days of learning, reflection, and discussion. With the pandemic creating tremendous, rippling changes across society—upending systems, reversing progress on SDGs, pushing many back into poverty—the time is ripe for reflection. What has changed? What have we learned? How do we adapt? How do we build…
Hope for the Future
BY LAURENCE LIENCHAIRMAN AND ACTING CEO I just returned from my first trip overseas in 21 months, a family vacation as far away from Singapore as I possibly could go—to enjoy city life in the East Coast of the US, and then the great outdoors in Arizona. It was a thrill to just get out. But for us, the biggest highlight of the trip was something quiet—hiking—in Sedona, with its stunning and unique rock formations. There is something innate in us, even for my sons who are total urbanites, that simply connects with nature. The best architecture in the world…
A Note from our CEO: Moving into the Post-COVID Norm
Dear Members, It has been more than a year of COVID-19. A year ago, we were busy pivoting our work and programming online, and fighting the proximate effects of COVID-19. Today, the preoccupation is on vaccination and on the world that we transit to. What is the new normal? What are we doing at APC during this transition? I will pick up on three themes: existential, flourishing and hybrid. One, existential. The pandemic has brought attention to the crucial need for us to address existential threats. COVID-19 is not even the most serious pandemic human kind has experienced. If one…